SNELL OF SUCCESS?
NL Cy winner tops list of possible Cole fill-ins
ONE OF these days I’ll stop writing about starting pitchers the Yankees need to get. But now is not the time to cease! (Hat tip to reader Bill Bittay for the pun.)
Dylan Cease was actually the perfect solution to the Yankees’ obvious rotation issue: a dependable starter with big stuff — the most swings-and-misses since the start of 2021 with 1,437, 11 more than second-place Gerrit Cole, via Sarah Langs — plus a reasonable $8 million salary. But word is the Yankees remained in the background late, once it became understood top outfield prospect Spencer Jones had to be in any package.
With some irony, the White Sox sent Cease to the Padres for four players — including pitching prospect Drew Thorpe, who actually came in the deal with the Yankees for Juan Soto. So who’s left for the Yankees to pursue to enhance a rotation that will be without Cole at least one to two months and looked thin even before the ace’s elbow ligament issue arose? Here’s the seeming list of possibilities.
1. Blake Snell: The first two-time Cy Young winner whose free agency lasted into mid-March, Snell represents the best hope to replicate Cole. He was easily the best starter the final five months of 2023, posting a 1.20 ERA from May 25 on (exactly twice as good as Kyle Bradish’s 2.40 mark).
Some former teammates suggest Snell would prefer the West Coast, but the real issue is that the Yankees are over the fourth-tier Steve Cohen tax threshold and would need to pay 110 percent tax, meaning a $30M salary would bring a $33M tax bill. 2. Jordan Montgomery: The Yankees like their former pitcher, but they prefer Snell. The suspicion, too, is he’d prefer the Rangers, who also went for Cease and could use another pitcher. 3. Jesus Luzardo/Edward Cabrera: If the Yankees didn’t have enough to land Cease, it’s hard to see them acquiring Luzardo, who has three years remaining before free agency and a bigger asking price. Cabrera would be cheaper in terms of prospects. 4. Michael Lorenzen: Folks forget Lorenzen was a 2023 All-Star and pitched a no-hitter last year, since he’s seen as a depth piece. He’s so far has turned down offers in the $5M-$7M range.
5. Mike Clevinger: He actually pitched very well for the White Sox in the second half, but past maturity issues impact his free agency.
6. Trevor Bauer: He looked great pitching for Asian Breeze on the back fields at Dodgers camp in his ongoing campaign to try to convince an MLB team to take a chance. He’d likely fit a small-market contender best, but even they haven’t shown a willingness yet to take the PR hit.
The Yankees wouldn’t seem to be the obvious landing spot, anyway, but his UCLA teammate, Cole, was the first one to identify Bauer as a troublesome personality. It’s impossible to see the Yankees adding insult to Cole’s injury.